Gravity Notes

A simple note-taking app built on the Gravity UI ecosystem, using @gravity-ui/markdown-editor as the WYSIWYG/Markdown editor. Runs as a web app and a macOS desktop app (Tauri). On first run you choose where notes live: a folder on your computer (plain .md files), or in-browser / in-app — and you can export/import .md files either way.

Philosophy

The app does little, on purpose. There is one box — type, and you are reading the nearest note or writing a new one, as in nvALT. The design takes after Things: plain, quiet, out of the way. Every action has a key. The type is set to be read; the notes are plain Markdown files, and they are yours.

Features

• Your notes are plain .md files in a folder you own — or in-browser storage; export/import a zip either way
• One box, keyboard-first (nvALT-style): type to search or create, Enter to open, Esc to step back — every action has a key (⌘/ for the sheet, or docs/shortcuts.md)
• Gravity Markdown editor: WYSIWYG and markup modes, read-only preview, live URLs
• [[Wiki links]] and backlinks, stored verbatim — Obsidian-compatible
• Full-text search across titles and bodies, ranked, with match snippets
• Nested folders, pins, sort modes, note icons, and a recoverable Trash
• Images: paste or drop into a note — stored as files in Attachments/, click to zoom
• Plays nice with other tools: external edits show up live in the desktop app (a folder watcher), with conflict handling when a note changes underneath you
• Multiple workspaces & windows (desktop): switch folders with ⌃R, open a workspace — or a single note — in its own window
• Make it yours: light/dark/system theme, editor font, accent color, text width — app-wide, per workspace, or per note
• Autosave, visited-note history (⌘[ / ⌘]), and automatic signed updates in the macOS app

Getting started

Download the app (macOS)

Grab the latest .dmg from the releases page (Apple silicon). The app updates itself in place from there. On first run, pick Open a folder (plain .md files you own) or Store inside the app — you can switch later, or export/import, from the storage menu in the top bar.

Run from source

You'll need Node.js. The desktop app additionally needs a Rust toolchain (rustc ≥ 1.88; rustup is recommended) and the Xcode Command Line Tools.

npm install
npm run dev          # start the dev server (http://localhost:5173)
npm run build        # type-check + production build
npm run build:single # single self-contained index.html (all JS/CSS inlined)
npm run preview      # preview the production build

npm run tauri:dev    # run the macOS desktop app against the dev server
npm run tauri:build  # build the .app / .dmg (arm64) → src-tauri/target/release/bundle

In the browser, any modern one works — but folder storage uses the File System Access API, which is Chromium-only (Chrome, Edge, …) and re-prompts for permission each session; Firefox/Safari get in-browser storage. The desktop app reads the folder natively, with no re-prompting.

Documentation

• docs/shortcuts.md — every keyboard shortcut (also ⌘/ in the app)
• docs/architecture.md — how it's built, what's written to your disk, and known limitations

Backlog

• iCloud dataless files: not-yet-downloaded files list by name/mtime with an empty preview/search body, and recover once macOS materializes them (a focus refresh picks up the filled-in preview). Consider startDownloadingUbiquitousItemAtURL to kick off downloads in the background + a "downloading…" preview state so it isn't silent.

• Density (line spacing) setting to complement the per-note font/width overrides?

• Restore all workspace windows on relaunch (today only the last-active one comes back)

• Resizable left panel

• Preserve cmd+z between notes

• Cmd+z for undoing deleting of notes and moves between folders?

• Easter egg in top bar (to the right of the search bar) ?

• Notion-like page title backgrounds

• Auto-empty the Trash and clean unused attachments (after 30 days?)

• Metadata storage approach review

• Mobile view

• Mobile app